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Loyola at a Glance

Haiti earthquake hero receives Loyola's top alumni award

May 3, 2013

Loyola University New Orleans alumna Dr. Vanessa Rouzier-Taluy ’98 helped save trauma victims from the rubble after the 2010 earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She’s also a key player in the campaign against the country’s worsening cholera epidemic, labeled the disease’s deadliest outbreak in recent history. Loyola will honor this health care hero with its highest honor for alumni—the Adjutor Hominum Award presented by the Loyola Alumni Association.

Rouzier-Taluy will receive the award during the Alumni Association Jazz Brunch May 12, part of the university’s annual Alumni Weekend celebration and reunion events. The 11:15 a.m. brunch is set for the St. Charles Room in the Danna Student Center on Loyola’s main campus. The cost is $30 per person or $50 per couple. A 10:30 a.m. Alumni Mass held at the Ignatius Chapel in Bobet Hall will precede the brunch. Register online.

Rouzier-Taluy is the chief of pediatrics at GHESKIO, a Haitian medical center located in Port-au-Prince. As a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist, she oversees the clinical care of more than 1,000 children, specifically focusing on underserved children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and mother-child health.

The health care hero is also known for her tireless help in reuniting a baby—badly injured from the 2010 earthquake and with one leg amputated—with his mother after the two were separated when the baby was taken for emergency medical care.

“Her life epitomizes what we strive for at Loyola, developing men and women for others,” said her former teacher, Loyola biology professor Patricia Dorn, Ph.D.

While an undergraduate at Loyola, Rouzier-Taluy conducted Chagas disease research with Dorn, also traveling to Guatemala to help teach molecular techniques to Central American investigators.

Her advice to Loyola students? “Success is great, but helping others along the way makes it even more rewarding.”

Loyola at a Glance is written and distributed for the faculty, staff, students and friends of Loyola University New Orleans. It is published by the Office of Public Affairs, Greenville Hall, Box 909, 7214 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118. (504) 861-5888.

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